Don’t touch that dial: Local independent radio keeps airwaves fresh

The last time I actively chose to listen to mainstream radio, I was driving my mother’s Pontiac Grand Prix to cheerleading practice.

That is the least pretentious way I can find to say that I haven’t enjoyed mainstream radio since before the U.S. government deemed me legally an adult.

After years of faithfully tuning in to my favorite alt rock stations — and the “today’s hottest mix of mediocrity” favored by my mother — I woke up one day and realized I couldn’t stand to listen for another second.

The endless commercials had become a welcome reprieve from the same tired songs played over and over again, and when I got to college and discovered that there was, in fact, more out there than Dave Matthews Band’s endless catalog, I turned off the radio and never looked back.

Within a year, everyone I knew had an iPod anyway, and suddenly we no longer had to settle for Liposuction commercials and the mind-numbing whine of Blink 182.

But there’s something I’ve missed about tuning in, that feeling of community, of knowing

KVLU programming director Jason Miller. Dave Ryan/cat5

others out there are listening with you and that maybe — just maybe — you might stumble upon something new that really strikes you.

One sunny Saturday afternoon in Beaumont, I got to relive that feeling for the first time since high school when, after tuning into NPR in the hopes of catching a little news, I heard something quite shocking: music.

Not the same 40 pop songs that clog most airwaves with their shallow tumescence, but the sweet sounds of independent artists I’d never heard before.

I listened with rapt attention, barely realizing I’d spent 25 minutes sitting in my car in the driveway. And when I realized the radio show was actually produced right here in Beaumont, my heart swelled with pride. Once again I was reminded that when you take the time to seek out the extraordinary, sometimes you find that it’s been right in front of you all along.

In the spirit of that discovery, this week I’m sharing just a few of our area’s independent radio offerings. From talk radio to indie rock and a genre playfully dubbed “space music,” there’s a lot out there if you take the time to look. And listen.

Ramona Falls, Hot Chip, Washed Out, Bowerbirds, M83, Fleet Foxes — if you have even a vague idea of who any of these bands are, this Saturday afternoon gem is for you.

Started 12 years ago by KVLU Programming Director Jason Miller and morning announcer Troy Harper, this show offers the best of new indie music and alternative classics.

“We were the first show to do alternative music here because KVLU needed a college rock show,” Miller said. “(Troy and I) both liked a lot of the same music so we made a demo.”

When they first started, Miller said, they were truly freeform, juxtaposing tracks from Buck Owens with Soundgarden and the Pixies.

“When we started this show, we were coming out of the 90s (expletive),” Miller said. “Then suddenly bands like Belle & Sebastian and other indie rock started to gain momentum.”

If you drink craft beer, ride a bike to the farmer’s market and boast a music library larger than that of most mainstream radio stations, you’re likely to enjoy this show, curated by two guys I can only describe as monumental music nerds.

“I’d go home and grab a stack of things and think maybe I wanna play this,” Harper said.

Oh, you also might like this show if you’re incarcerated.

Dave Ryan/cat5

“We used to get a lot of prison letters,” Miller said with a laugh.

Harper and Miller describe their non-prisoner listener base as generally well informed and always on the search for new sounds.

“We’ve pretty much just always been in our own weird world,” Miller said. “We’re not trying to revolt against anything, we’re just trying to reach out to other people who like weird music.”

The Danger Zone On air: 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday at XPRTRadio.com

A few months ago, Jerome Ennis showed up to work at KSET AM 1500 to find that there was no longer a work to show up to — the station was off the air, effective immediately.

“We were as happy as happy could be and all of the sudden it stopped, in a single moment,” he said. “All of the sudden, that was it.”

By the end of the day, Ennis — who co-hosted popular talk show The Danger Zone — had started his own radio station.

“I thought, we can sit here and cry about it, or we can do something about it,” he said.

Jerome Ennis, right, and guest Jake Hooker of We Were Wolves, left, go live on air from Madison's on the Danger Zone on XPRT Pirate Radio. Dave Ryan/cat5

And thus began XPRT Pirate Radio, an online radio station that now hosts several of KSET’s more popular shows.

On the afternoon I visited, Jake Hooker of local band We Were Wolves was the guest of honor, sidled up next to Ennis in a booth overlooking The Danger Zone’s home base at Madison’s.

That day’s discussion topics included everything from Jagermeister to antibiotics to a meth lab found in a Walmart bathroom.

Ennis setting up for a live broadcast of The Danger Zone on XPRT Pirate Radio. Dave Ryan/cat5

“It’s anything goes,” he said, adding that listeners may hear the occasional swear word or discussion on a taboo topic. “I’m not about censorship, not that I wanna go overboard.”

When shows like The Danger Zone and Straight Talk aren’t on the air, it’s a mixture of music ranging from top 40 to 80’s hits. Ennis said he plans to focus more of the station’s time to local music, which is something we don’t get a lot of on local airwaves.

“It’s difficult getting airplay,” Hooker said. “It’s (expletive). But ask a bunch of Beaumonters in the know if they’d rather hear We Were Wolves or Nickelback. Just ask ‘em.”

We certainly know our own answer to that question.

“I’m not looking to set the world on fire, I just love what I do,” Ennis said. “It’s about allowing people to have a voice.”

If you’ve got nowhere to be on Friday night, outer space is always an option.

Space Capsule co-pilot Matthew Myers. Dave Ryan/cat5

Space Capsule originally launched on KVLU in the 1970s, when its first host created the avant garde jazz show to “beam it into space so that aliens didn’t think we listened to just disco,” Miller said.

These days, the show focuses more on what hosts Jason Miller and Mathew Myers call “space music” — genres like chillwave, downtempo electronica and underground ‘80s material.